The Pacifist

by Elin Peer

  Excited mutterings broke out among the audience members. Several whistled loud and Khan had to hold up his hands to silence them.

  “I know it’s all very exciting, but let’s get back to the highlight of this evening.” Music began playing and Khan’s voice grew softer. “It’s time for another beautiful wedding. Please help me welcome Katrina and Andrew.”

  The bride looked very pretty wearing a long-sleeved dress that underlined her narrow waist and sat tight across her chest. The flowers in her dark brown hair made her ooze with femininity and Andrew beamed with pride like he’d just won a tournament and now got to claim his bride.

  Mila and I intertwined our fingers as we witnessed the wedding ceremony. Next week it would be us on that stage. We had discussed marrying at Mila’s tournament but it seemed like a provocation to the fighters. Khan wanted it to be a public affair and that’s how Mila had always envisioned it in her mind too. In the end, marrying after next week’s show seemed like the best way to do it, and Mila had a good point when she mentioned that it would make it easy for the guests arriving from the Motherlands if they wanted to stay for the tournament too.

  “Did you hear from Shelly and Marco?” Raven asked Mila.

  “Yes, they’re coming for the wedding, and so are Finn and Athena.” Mila was beaming with happiness. “Even Kya and Archer are leaving the school for a day. Everyone will be there.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Party

  Mila

  The week leading up to our wedding went by fast and before I knew it, twelve hundred spectators were watching us getting married.

  All I could see was Jonah standing in front of me in his formal attire with moist eyes. We were in a bubble of happiness and while holding hands we kept gazing into each other’s eyes as Khan’s voice sounded loud and clear.

  “Twelve years ago, a sweet angel descended on the Northlands. From the beginning, Mila melted us with her kindness, cute dimples, and beautiful singing voice. And then by some miracle Magni and Laura were lucky enough to adopt you into our Aurelius family.

  “Jonah, it’s no secret that you spoiled our plan of Mila’s marrying the strongest protector in our country. But then you are no ordinary man yourself. You’ve been named the most powerful man in the Motherlands and have already achieved more than any other man before you. I can tell you from experience that having a loving partner and best friend by your side makes the sacrifices you make for your country more tolerable.

  “It’s a great honor and privilege to be the first to congratulate you both on making this commitment to each other. I have no doubt that we can expect great things from you two in the future.”

  Taking a deep breath, Khan asked, “Mila Aurelius, do you take Jonah Cervici as your husband?”

  I stood in my beautiful white dress, smiling from ear to ear. “I do.”

  “And Jonah Cervici, do you take Mila Aurelius as your wife?”

  His chest lifted and then he spoke with a powerful voice. “Yes, I do.”

  “Then I now declare you man and wife.”

  Jonah and I didn’t wait for Khan to tell us we could kiss before we pressed our lips together.

  “I love you.” His eyes were glowing with emotions and made me tear up.

  It was perfect. From Khan’s beautiful words at the ceremony and the cheer from the audience to, later, the celebration in the ballroom at the Gray Manor for our closest family and friends.

  Athena and Finn finally brought back my three siblings and even though I’d spoken with them often while they were gone, I still kept hugging them like I hadn’t seen them in a year. Dina and Aubri wanted to dance all night and I joined them several times during the night, feeling such a sense of relief that my dad’s paranoia had calmed down. With Magni back in public, looking strong and fierce, Khan’s popularity had gone up. It helped that the Men of the North show had become a massive success and that it was portraying him as a ruthless and clever man.

  It was impossible not to sense the renewed pride the Nmen took in their nation, and with that came a new appreciation for the work Khan did as their ruler, especially when it came to the integration process.

  After my last dance with my two younger sisters that evening, I found Jonah in conversation with Shelly Summers, a world-renowned genius, who had been an assistant teacher at my school when she was fifteen.

  “Hey, Milove, I was just trying to understand how the mind of a genius works.” Jonah pulled me in and kissed the top of my hair.

  “And did you figure it out?” I smiled at Shelly, who looked pretty with her long brown hair and feminine dress.

  “I’ve concluded that it’s a matter of having a curious mind. Shelly keeps generating questions and some of them are hilarious.”

  Marco, who stood next to Shelly, nodded. “Others are bizarre.” He smiled at his wife. “Like when you wanted to know if I ever liked the smell of my own farts.”

  I laughed. “Geez, Shelly, you didn’t ask him that, did you?”

  Marco laughed too. “Ha. That’s my life on a regular basis.”

  “I can’t help that my mind comes up with all sorts of random questions all the time,” Shelly defended herself.

  “Tell them what you told me about dogs when we arrived here,” Marco encouraged her.

  “That wasn’t a question, but an observation.”

  “Still, it shows how your brain works.”

  Shelly shook her head like we were all being silly. “I saw Freya playing fetch with some dogs and I just wondered if maybe the only reason the dogs were bringing back the ball was because they thought it brings her joy to throw it.”

  I laughed. “If that’s the case, then I’ve wasted endless hours throwing the ball for my dogs.”

  “What about the question you had about deaf people? We still need to find an answer to that.” Marco looked to Jonah. “You don’t happen to have a deaf person in your family we can ask, do you?”

  “No.”

  Shelly chewed on her inner lip. “That’s the thing, deaf people have operations early on these days, but back in the olden days there were people who lived a whole life without hearing. You’ve got to wonder what their thought process was. I mean we all have a narrator in our minds. We think in words and just by looking at an apple, the word will appear in our minds. But what if you’ve never heard speech? Will a deaf person think in symbols, sign language, or make sense of everything in a completely different way than the rest of us? I’d love to know.”

  Jonah and I exchanged a look. “I’ve never thought of that,” I admitted.

  “Me neither,” Mila said in support.

  Marco chuckled. “That’s because we aren’t cursed with a mind that will never shut up asking questions. I’m telling you that living with Shelly is the most entertaining thing. She never ceases to amaze me.”

  Finn and Athena, holding hands, came over to join in our discussion “Are you talking about me? I always amaze people. I can’t help it,” he said.

  “We’re talking about the entertainment value of a curious mind and the obscure thoughts Shelly has.”

  “Ah, I can relate. I’m a bit of a genius myself, sometimes.” Finn tapped at his left temple. “For instance, do you ever think about how your future self is watching you right now through memories?”

  “And how many animals probably need glasses but nobody knows it,” Athena added.

  I felt like I had an aura of happiness around me when I grinned. “You’re all geniuses and I love you.”

  “Aww, you’re the sweetest.” Athena hugged me and then Finn enveloped us calling out, “Group hug.”

  Athena and I were laughing when they squeezed us together. With the size of Finn, Marco, and all the others, I couldn’t see much but I heard Magni protest when apparently someone tried to get him to join.

  “I would, but group hugging is bad for my legs. It said so in the instruction manual.”

  When finally, they all let up again, I had tears in my eyes from laughing a
nd from the deep sense of happiness that filled me from within. Jonah opened his arms and I placed my cheek against his chest and cried a little.

  “Did someone hurt my baby?” Magni called out.

  “No, I think she’s just a little overwhelmed with emotions,” Jonah answered for me while holding me in his arms. “That’s what a massive group hug will do to you. Mila is an empath; she soaks up all the love.”

  “Ah, that’s okay then.” I felt my dad’s hand on my back. “It’s okay to cry, you know.”

  With a sound between a snort and a gasp, I turned my head to him. “Dad, did you just say that it’s okay to cry?”

  Magni lowered his brow. “Yeah, for women, you know.”

  “Ahh, okay.” I dried my eyes. “For a moment you had me worried that you might have fallen and hit your head.”

  “Men can cry too, just never in public.” Magni crossed his arms and gave a firm look to Finn and Marco, who were the only Nmen within ears reach. “Don’t pretend you haven’t cried too.”

  Finn’s hands flew up in the air. “I bawled like a baby when I thought Athena had died, and I’m not afraid to admit it.”

  Marco shifted his weight from one side to the other, but didn’t answer.

  “I cry.” Jonah admitted with no shame. “It’s natural.”

  “Marco cries too. He did it a few weeks ago, remember?” Shelly seemed oblivious to Marco’s bulging eyes as he tried to tell her to keep quiet.

  “It was just because I got burned by a jellyfish and it hurt like a bitch.”

  Shelly took a sip of her drink. “You still cried.”

  “There might have been a few tears but that’s because it got me at my crotch and I was afraid I might not be able to use it again.”

  Jonah, and Finn scrunched up their faces in grimaces of sympathy pain.

  “What’s a jellyfish?” Magni asked.

  “It’s a fucker who lives in the sea and looks completely innocent until it touches your skin and burns your balls off.”

  “You’re shitting me?” Magni stared at Marco. “You lost your balls because you swam in the ocean?”

  “No, I still have them, but it’s fucking painful to be burned by those little animals, and there can be a whole swarm of them.”

  With an expression of horror, Magni turned his head and called out to Khan, who stood with Pearl and my mom, not too far away. “You’d better fucking win that election, Khan.”

  “What happened?” Khan called back.

  “Our plan B of living on a beach just lost its appeal. There are real monsters in the ocean that we didn’t know about.”

  “Come on.” Jonah led me to the dance floor, creating a bubble for him and me where our rhythmic movements were in sync and our smiles and touches worked as foreplay for our wedding night.

  Dancing and chatting until one in the morning, we left the party to consummate our marriage.

  “This is our first night as man and wife,” Jonah whispered after we were done with our second round. Like me, Jonah was warm and sweaty from our intense lovemaking.

  “I’m just so grateful that I get to do this with you.”

  “Because you feel safe with me?” He let his hand slide up my arm.

  I nodded. “Yes, and because no one makes me feel as good about myself as you do. When I’m with you I never worry that you might find me too soft or too weird. My pacifistic Motlander ways don’t offend you and I can be myself with you.”

  Over the last two weeks, Jonah and I had tried out at least a dozen of the Kama Sutra positions, but we always came back to him on top of me with my legs wrapped around him.

  “There’s nothing better in life than being this close to you. It’s like that story about man and woman being one being before we were separated. When I’m inside you, I feel at peace.”

  “Me too, but I still think there’s one thing that will complete it.” I smiled as he nuzzled my nose.

  “How can anything be better than this?”

  I felt my heart race as I whispered the words, “It will be when you leave some of you inside of me.”

  His eyes expanded and he hesitated. “You want me to come inside you?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You sure?”

  I didn’t answer except for the calm smile in my eyes.

  Jonah pushed deep inside me and rotated his hips. Our sex suddenly became about so much more than him and me. If our love could result in a part of me and a part of him merging together to create new life, it would be the closest thing to oneness we could ever achieve.

  “Jonah, yes, I want to feel you come inside me.” I looked deep into his eyes and pushed against him in the most intimate dance between a man and woman.

  Again and again, he thrust in and out until our breathing and moans were high-pitched and my eyes rolled back from the intense spasms in my body that came with the best orgasm of my life.

  “Ohh, Mila, I’m coming.” Jonah’s body tensed up as he leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and made sounds of deep pleasure. “Ahhh.”

  The sensation of him pushing all the way inside me and filling me up with his semen took satisfaction to a whole new level. I didn’t want him to ever pull out again.

  For a full minute after, Jonah lay with all his weight on top of me.

  “Are you okay?” I nuzzled his neck.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Did you like it?”

  Lifting his head, Jonah kissed me and rolled down beside me. “That was the most extreme thing I’ve ever done.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been special to me since the first day we met. You know that.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “I didn’t grow up thinking I’d ever be with a woman. At first when I met you, I was just happy to be your friend… there were no ulterior motives.”

  “I know, Jonah.”

  Still out of breath, he blew out air and took a deep breath before continuing. “Then you asked me to kiss you in the drone and I felt more honored than you can ever imagine. All that talk about you marrying a large warrior had made me feel insignificant as a male.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Mila I’ve been a changed man since we became lovers and I truly never thought you could make me feel better than you already had, but this… this was the most healing experience.”

  “What do you mean by healing?”

  “It’s one thing for you to accept me despite being different from what you imagined your husband would be, but today you committed yourself to me in front of everybody and then you asked me to leave something of me inside of you. It’s like the ultimate feeling of complete acceptance a man can get. Since you said yes to marrying me, I’ve walked with a different confidence. I don’t care how big the Nmen are. I’m no longer an underdog. I’m the fucking winner of your heart.”

  “Jonah…” I gave a mock gasp. “You said the F word.”

  “That’s how good it felt to come inside you. I’m well aware that thousands of men are envious of me right now.”

  I trailed a finger down his chest. “I don’t care about any other suitors. All I care about is us.”

  “Do you think they’re still partying upstairs?”

  “I don’t know, but I feel bad for the dogs. They didn’t get their evening walk.”

  Jonah lifted up on his elbows and looked at the three dogs lying around. “They seem fine to me.”

  “For now, but I guarantee that they’ll wake us at six if we don’t take them out.”

  “Why didn’t we have someone take the dogs for our wedding night?”

  I sighed. “I should have thought of that, but it’s okay. I’ll just take them out really quick and then we can sleep longer tomorrow morning.”

  “It’s almost three in the morning. You want to take them out now?”

  “Yes. You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to.”

  Leaning in to kiss me, Jonah whispered against my lips. “For
better or worse.”

  “You’re coming?”

  “Uh-huh. I always knew marrying you was a package deal. Walking dogs in the middle of the night is a small price to pay to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  My heart was melting. “I love you even more for saying that.”

  Holger, Loki, and Happy were quick to get up when we began dressing. A walk in the park was welcome at any time of the day.

  We didn’t hear any music as we walked out. Nor did we hear the attackers when they came up on us from behind.

  CHAPTER 29

  Revolution

  Jonah

  As soon as we came out into the park, Happy and Holger got a scent of something and took off.

  “Darn it, I should have brought leashes. The same thing happened a few days ago. The rabbits had them on a chase for at least twenty minutes before they came back. I’ll bet they just picked up their trace.”

  “Let’s hope it won’t take them twenty minutes to come back this time,” I said and tucked a hand in my left pocket. “It’s cold tonight.”

  Loki, the smallest dog, stayed around us.

  “Doesn’t he like rabbits?”

  “Loki is afraid of the darkness.” Mila and I were close to the house where lights made it possible to navigate the areas with water fountains and seating arrangements. The lights didn’t extend to the whole park, so we walked in the area around the house that was lit up.

  One minute we were walking hand in hand talking about the magic of our wedding day. The next minute, Loki barked and growled at some bushes like an animal possessed.

  “Shhh, Loki, you’re waking up everyone,” Mila scolded the dog, but he wouldn’t stop. We were walking toward him when, all of a sudden, he made a sound of pain and fell to the ground.

  “Loki!” Mila cried out in panic and broke free from my hand to run to him.

  “No, Mila.” I grabbed for her elbow to stop her, but a strong force jerked me back, just as men dressed in black from head to toe appeared from the bushes.